---
title: 'Senior Staff Engineer, Expansion Experiences at Gusto, Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-engineer-expansion-experiences-gusto-inc-san-francisco-rmf6cddmn13d'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-19'
---

# Senior Staff Engineer, Expansion Experiences at Gusto, Inc.

- **Company:** Gusto, Inc.
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/gusto/jobs/8244981

## Job description

## About Gusto

At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff — payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR — so owners can focus on their craft and their customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we support more than 500,000 small businesses nationwide and are building a workplace that reflects the people we serve.

All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs) — because everyone who helps build Gusto should share in its success. Offer amounts are determined by role, level, and location. Learn more about our[Total Rewards philosophy](https://gusto.com/about/careers/total-rewards).

AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto. We expect all team members to actively engage with AI tools relevant to their role and grow their fluency as the technology evolves. AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.

Most small businesses on Gusto are only using a fraction of what could actually help them run their business: the right plan tier, the right benefit, the right feature at the right moment. We're investing in building more of that expertise directly into the product itself, through recommendations, nurture journeys, and self-serve conversion paths that work alongside the support our Sales team already provides.

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer on Expansion Experiences, you'll own outcomes across that whole funnel, from the moment a customer's need surfaces through to the ongoing value of what they adopt. That means real autonomy: shaping the technical approach, partnering with Product, Design, and Data Science to decide what's worth building, calling the shots on what to test now versus later, and flagging the technical investments the team will need before they become urgent.

If you want your work to move retained and expansion revenue for a company serving 500,000+ small businesses, this is the team.

Here's what you'll do day-to-day:

- Own outcomes across the full expansion funnel, not just a single surface or feature within it.
- Shape the technical approach and architecture behind recommendations and conversion journeys so it holds up as a foundation other initiatives can build on.
- Make sharp scoping calls under a time box: ship the simplest version that proves or disproves an idea, then iterate based on what you learn.
- Design experiments and use ambiguous or noisy data to decide what's worth scaling versus cutting.
- Partner independently with Product, Design, and Data Science to help shape the roadmap, not just execute it.
- Raise the engineering bar through pragmatic technical direction, strong code review, and mentoring engineers around you, scoping out work and delegating it to other engineers on the team once it's ready to hand off.

Here's what we're looking for:

- Successful applicants typically have 10+ years of software development experience, including building and shipping full-stack, customer-facing products at scale.
- A product-minded engineer who starts from the customer problem and the metric that matters, not just the ticket, and can operate independently across product, design, and data partners.
- Experience in a growth, lifecycle, or conversion-focused context (onboarding, upsell flows, personalization, or recommendations) is ideal — or a demonstrated ability to think this way even without the exact domain background.
- Demonstrated ability to move quickly and execute with high quality — someone who ships, measures, and iterates rather than waiting for perfect certainty.
- Experience owning multi-quarter initiatives end to end, from early concept through measurable business impact.
- Comfort navigating ambiguity and leading peers through influence, without relying on formal authority.
- Experience with large-scale refactors, performance and reliability work, and a strong sense of technical ownership over your product area.
- A track record of mentoring engineers and helping teams scale their impact, including knowing when to delegate scoped work to other engineers rather than carrying it yourself.
- A track record of spotting technical or product opportunities before being asked, and building the case to prioritize them.
- Experience leveraging AI tools or systems to accelerate development, improve testing, and deliver new product capabilities.
- Ability to build well-structured, maintainable, well-documented code.
- Ability to effectively communicate across engineering teams and with business stakeholders.

Nice to Have:

- Experience in, or interest working in, Ruby on Rails, React, GraphQL, and TypeScript.

Please note that travel to Gusto's office for onboarding is required for this position. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please share with your recruiter.

Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale. When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required. This includes non-office days for hybrid employees.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at 191,000–240,000 in Denver & most remote locations, and 225,000–275,000 for San Francisco & New York. Stock equity is additional. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

At Gusto, we don't use titles the traditional way, as a signal of rank or hierarchy. Instead, our titles describe two things at once — your craft (what you do, e.g. Engineering, Design) and your scope of ownership (what you're accountable for) — which is why you'll see something like "Head of X" instead of a rank word like "Director" that tells you neither. Because of this, the title on this posting may look different from what you'd expect based on the scope and seniority of the role, and from how similar roles are typically titled elsewhere. If you have questions about how this role compares to your current title or level, your recruiter can help translate.

Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale.

Note: The San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas.

When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required. This includes non-office days for hybrid employees.

Reliable, consistent presence: We expect regular and predictable attendance, whether you're working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote, so that you stay closely connected to your team, customers, and stakeholders in real time and ensure colleagues and customers receive the timely support and responsiveness they deserve.

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for small businesses, you will find a home at Gusto.

Gusto is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. Gusto considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Gusto is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. We want to see our candidates perform to the best of their ability. If you require a medical or religious accommodation at any time throughout your candidate journey, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEfl7Bp-Twz7LLlhGlha46CrxZ9Kacgakmarf3K2TbnaEgKQ/viewform) and a member of our team will get in touch with you.

Gusto takes security and protection of your personal information very seriously. Please review our [Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer](https://gusto.com/about/careers/fraudulent-activity-disclaimer).

Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to [Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice](https://gusto.com/about/careers/applicant-privacy-notice).

## About Gusto, Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Gusto provides an all-in-one payroll, benefits, and HR platform that automates and simplifies the people side of running a small business.
- **Entity Type**: Private (bootstrapped to significant scale; no recent funding rounds disclosed)
- **Headquarters**: Denver, Colorado, USA (with offices in San Francisco, New York City, and Scottsdale, Arizona)
- **Founded**: 2012 (originally launched as ZenPayroll)
- **Founders**: Not publicly available in provided sources

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Human Resources / Payroll / Benefits technology
- **Target customers**: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the U.S. (and Canada via EOR)
- **Mission or purpose**: “We’re making work meaningful for everyone, everywhere.” – Focused on helping small businesses take care of their teams.

## Products & Services
- **Payroll Processing (Core)**: Full-service payroll that automatically calculates, files, and pays taxes. Supports both W-2 employees and international contractors.
- **Benefits Administration**: Health insurance, 401(k) plans, commuter benefits, and other voluntary benefits integrated into the platform.
- **HR & Compliance Tools**: Hiring, onboarding, time tracking, PTO management, and compliance support (e.g., labor law posters, ACA reporting).
- **Employer-of-Record (EOR) for Canada**: Powered by Remote, allows U.S. businesses to hire full-time employees in Canada without a local entity.

All offerings are SaaS-based, delivered through a single integrated platform.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Serves **more than 500,000 businesses** nationwide; processes tens of billions of dollars in payroll annually.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in provided sources
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount: ~4,400 total employees, with ~1,200 in product & tech roles
  - Expanding into Canada via EOR partnership with Remote
  - Strong emphasis on AI integration to “absorb complexity” and improve customer experience

## Competitive Advantages
- **All-in-one platform**: Combines payroll, benefits, HR, and compliance in a single system, reducing the need for multiple vendors.
- **Automated tax filing and compliance**: Removes a major pain point for small business owners.
- **Customer obsession**: 9 out of 10 customer satisfaction rating; focus on serving an underserved market.
- **AI-first approach**: Uses AI to catch errors, answer questions, and streamline workflows, giving customers leverage without replacing human judgment.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI as a force multiplier**: Continued investment in AI to automate edge cases, improve speed, and enable higher-impact work for both customers and employees.
- **Expanding the platform**: Adding capabilities like EOR for Canada and deeper benefits integrations.
- **Scaling the small business economy**: Prioritizing features that help businesses grow and take care of their teams, with a long-term view of market leadership.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture values**: “Act with Bold Conviction,” “Raise the Bar, Learn Fast, Repeat,” “Customer Obsessed,” “Dream Big, then Make it Real.” Emphasis on directness, healthy debate, and ownership.
- **Work model**: Hybrid – most roles tied to hub locations (Denver, San Francisco, New York City, Scottsdale) with in-person collaboration **two days a week** (Tues/Wed for most; Wed/Thu in Scottsdale). Trusts employees to work remotely the rest of the time.
- **Benefits**: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision; family planning and fertility support; gender-affirming care; mental health support; paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, parental leave, and sabbaticals.
- **Community**: Employee-led affinity groups open to all; inclusive culture that values diversity.
- **Engineering culture**: Builders who enjoy untangling hard problems; high ownership; AI tools give engineers leverage to focus on judgment and creativity.

## Sources
1. [gusto.com/about](https://gusto.com/about) – Company overview, values, mission, headcount (500k+ businesses)
2. [gusto.com/about/careers](https://gusto.com/about/careers) – Culture, work model, benefits, AI philosophy
3. [gusto.com](https://gusto.com/) – Product details, pricing, features, customer stats
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/gusto](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/gusto) – Current job openings (78 listed), departments
5. [builtin.com/company/gusto](https://builtin.com/company/gusto) – Employee count (4,405 total, 1,200 product+tech), office locations, hybrid policy

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